SFX 200 (120) - can it be used normally?

Hi

Yesterday I was given three rolls of SFX 200 (120) and would like to shoot them. However, I don't have any experience with infrared, have no filters, and am not interested in buying any I'd like to shoot this film as just plain B&W.

It expires this month, so what ASA should I rate it at? Also, I read a long time ago that IR film requires careful handling: load in complete darkness, tape over the film door window, be careful when loading into reels, etc, etc. Is this the case, or can I "cut corners" as with regular B&W film?

I have shot this film at box speed with and without a red filter to get good results. I usually load in subdued light, and have seen no ill effects. I think loading in total darkness applies to "true" IR films, which this one is apparently not.

SFX is Ilford HP5 with some different dyes to give the infra-red sensitivity. You can use at 200 ISO as a normal b&w film. It has the grain of HP5. I process like FP4 (120 film is 9 minutes in 1+6 Ilfotec DDX 20C) when I do this but you need to play around as the dev time depends on how you expose, agitation, temperature, etc.

There are some pictures in my gallery taken with SFX without a filter. I wouldn't normally use it like this but we had just had a lot of snow and I wanted to go out and record it. SFX was the only film I had at the time.

You can get the data sheet from the Ilford Photo Website. That might have some info on using it unfiltered. I think it looks great shot at 200. I didn't know it was just HP5 with extended red sensitivity.

2F/2F

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